New state abortion regulations in place

Rules were developed after deaths at a Philadelphia clinic.

New, tougher regulations on abortion clinics in Pennsylvania take effect Tuesday, and local providers say that while the new rules are largely unnecessary, they'll be ready to provide services.

At the Allentown Women's Center and a local Planned Parenthood facility, officials say they have received provisional licenses that will allow them to continue operating while they work to achieve permanent license status.

"Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn's doors are open today and they will be open tomorrow," said CEO and President Kim Custer in a statement. "Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our patients. Even in the face of burdensome, medically unnecessary regulations, we will do what it takes to be there for the women counting on us."

The effort to strengthen abortion clinic regulations gained momentum in 2011 after a grand jury report charged that Dr. Kermit Gosnell killed viable, late-term babies and at least two pregnant women and injured many others at a West Philadelphia clinic. The report harshly criticized the state Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Department of State, which were told of horrors at Gosnell's clinic, but did nothing. At the time, the state policy was to not inspect abortion clinics so that women would not be intimidated.

The result of the Gosnell case — he has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of murder — was a new set of more stringent regulations that requires abortion facilities to be licensed as outpatient surgical facilities and regularly inspected by the state health department.

"This law is a public health victory," said Health Secretary Eli N. Avila.

Opponents said it was a back-door attempt to further restrict abortion in the state.

The state now has a license for abortion facilities that only use local anesthesia and a separate license for those that do surgical abortions using moderate anesthesia.

In the Lehigh Valley, the Planned Parenthood facility in Allentown and the women's center, which moved at the end of 2011 to Hanover Township, Northampton County, said they have received six-month provisional licenses to do surgical abortions using moderate anesthesia.

The women's center's move to Hanover Township was unrelated to the new regulations, said Executive Director Sylvia Stengle.

She said the impact of the new regulations couldn't be quantified because the center, like the Planned Parenthood facility, received a provisional license and is still attempting to understand what the state is demanding for it to attain a permanent license.

"It's still somewhat vague, what they're asking," she said.

Among other things, the state required the center to match up its rules and procedures with state regulations covering ambulatory surgical centers, Stengle said. That includes having approved quality assurance plans, proper credentialing of staffs, proper storage and handling of medications and more. Additionally, abortion centers statewide said the new regulations forced them to renovate their buildings and buy new equipment.

Planned Parenthood also said it's still trying to determine what the state wants to be in full compliance with the regulations.

Health officials expect that 14 of the 22 facilities statewide will qualify to perform surgical abortions, pending final approval. Of the eight that it expects will not qualify, one in the Pittsburgh area voluntarily closed, two others in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have been placed under hospital licenses subject to different regulations, and the rest will only be allowed to perform abortions that use prescribed medication and do not involve surgical procedures, the department said in a news release.

Allentown Medical Services, which also provided abortions, lost its license earlier this year when its office lease expired and was not renewed.